Maryam Zakaria is an Iranian-born actress and model who works in Indian films. She has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil language films.[1][2] She is best known for her work in films such as Madatha Kaja, Agent Vinod and Grand Masti.

Maryam Zakaria
Zakaria in 2012
Born
Tehran, Iran
CitizenshipSweden
Occupations
  • Model
  • actress
Years active2009–present
Spouse
Arvind Thakur
(m. 2012)
Children1

Career

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In Sweden, Zakaria worked as model, dance teacher, choreographer, and established a Bollywood dance school, the Indisk Dans Studio, which was the first dance school in Sweden to teach the "jhatkas and matkas of Bollywood cinema".[3] She moved to Mumbai, India, in 2009 to work in Bollywood and began working as a model, appearing in various television adverts, the most notable being the adverts of Set Wet, Layz, and Coke.[3][4] She also appeared in a Coca-Cola advertisement with Imran Khan.

Tamil film director Sundar C signed her to perform an item number in his film Nagaram (2010), after watching a dance video of hers on YouTube.[5][6] Her performance in the hit number "Diyalo Diyala" from 100% Love was her big breakthrough.[7] She went on to play one of the female lead characters in another Telugu film, Madatha Kaja (2011), alongside Allari Naresh,[3] and signed to do another Telugu movie as leading actress in Arjuna.[clarification needed] In 2012, she appeared in the item number "Dilli Ki Billi" in Muazzam Beg's film Sadda Adda.[8]

In the Saif Ali Khan film Agent Vinod, she acted as Farah and performed a mujra in the song "Dil Mera Muft Ka" alongside Kareena Kapoor, which gave her a fame in Bollywood. In 2012, she signed for Indra Kumar's movie Grand Masti, as leading actress opposite Aftab Shivdasani, which released on 13 September 2013. Grand Masti is the highest grossing Bollywood film with an A (Adults Only) certificate in India to be a big hit, subsequently entering Bollywood's 100-crore club in India. The film was declared a Super Hit in India by Box Office India.

Personal life

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Maryam Zakaria married choreographer Arvind Thakur in 2012.[9] The couple had a son, Aryan Thakur, in 2013.[10]

Filmography

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Films
Year Film Role Language Notes
2009 Paying Guests Hindi Item number
2010 Nagaram Tamil Item number
2011 100% Love Telugu Item number
Brahmigadi Katha Telugu Item number
Madatha Kaja Priya Telugu
2012 Sadda Adda Hindi Item number
Agent Vinod Farah Faqesh Hindi
Naa Ishtam Telugu Item number
Dammu Telugu Item number
Chakradhaar Hindi Item number
Rowdy Rathore Hindi Item number
2013 D-Day Hindi Item number
Bajatey Raho Hindi Item number
Grand Masti Rose Hindi
2014 Anjaan Tamil Item number
2016 Missing on a Weekend Hindi Item number
2017 Firangi Hindi Item number
2020 Arjuna Shruti Telugu
Music videos
Year Title Artist Notes
2007 "Goli" Saeed Shayesteh
2007 "Man Sazegaram" Saeed Shayesteh
2007 "Akharin Ghasam" Saeed Shayesteh
2008 "Ghorboni" Saeed Shayesteh
2009 "Jatt Di Zameen" Preet Harpal
2009 "Doset Daram" Saeed Shayesteh
2009 "Aakh Ladhde" Jaswinder Daghima
2009 "Mast Malanga" Sanoj Kumar
2010 "Khoshgeleh" Saeed Shayesteh
2010 "Azaaram Bedi" Saeed Shayesteh
2011 "Ja Ja Ve Ve" Rishi Singh & Rajveer Dhillon

References

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  1. ^ "Swedish Sizzle". India Today. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  2. ^ Saxena, Kashika. "Maryam Zakaria". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Set Wet commercial girl Mushtaq Ahmed in Tollywood". Deccan Chronicle. 29 September 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  4. ^ Itsy bitsy – Balancing act. The Hindu. 11 February 2012
  5. ^ Sizzling item number in Nagaram Archived 22 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Sify.com (17 November 2010). Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  6. ^ Where are all the item girls? – Times Of India. The Times of India. (19 December 2010). Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  7. ^ The girl who follows her dreams Archived 23 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Postnoon. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Swedish Model Dances To Dilli Ki Bill". NDTV Movies. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  9. ^ "I Decided To Have A Baby After Grand Masti! – Maryam Zakaria". 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Maryam Zakaria with son Aryan Thakur arrives at Isana Kapoor's birthday party in Mumbai on November 12, 2017 - Photogallery". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
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